Highway Trust Fund 2014: Timeline of Events

It felt like an eternity went by before Congress passed a bill to fund the Highway Trust Fund through May 2015. Unfortunately, for or as long as it took, nobody ended up happy with the outcome. Congress had months to work out a long-term deal and all they could agree on is a short-term plan that ultimately solves nothing.

Below is a timeline of events that took place leading up to the patch.

February 2014

It was clear early in the year that the HTF was running out much quicker than originally thought. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx warned Congress in February that the HTF would begin bouncing checks in August if a new deal wasn’t agreed upon.

“A number of commentators have expressed concern about what happens to transportation spending when the Highway Trust Fund runs out in fiscal year 2015,” Foxx said at the time. “Little do some of them know that the Highway Trust Fund is on track to bounce checks before fiscal year 2015—as soon as this August.”

March 2014

States began to cut back on construction projects once it appeared the HTF could shortfall as early as July. Every day it seemed like more and more road projects were getting put on the back burner, which was causing unsafe transportation conditions.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, was aware of the problem.

“Make no mistake – we are running out of time for action,” Boxer said. “Already states are cutting back on the construction projects they planned to go forward with this spring, and this trend will only continue to get worse as we get closer to insolvency,”

Address the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund and provide an additional $87 billion to address the nation’s backlog of deficient bridges and aging transit systems;

Create millions of new jobs to ensure America’s future competitiveness;

Increase safety across all modes of surface transportation, including increasing the civil penalties the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) can levy against automakers who fail to act quickly on vehicle recalls;

Provide certainty to state and local governments that must engage in long-term planning;

Reduce project approval and permitting timelines while delivering better outcomes for communities and the environment;

Bolster efficient and reliable freight networks to support trade and economic growth; and

“Failing to act before the Highway Trust Fund runs out is unacceptable – and unaffordable,” Foxx said in a written statement. “This proposal offers the kind of job creation and certainty that the American people want and deserve.”

The bill would never through Congress.

May 2014

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously approved a six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill. Dubbed the MAP-21 Reauthorization Act, the six-year bill planned to reauthorize surface transportation projects through fiscal year 2020 and was indexed for inflation.

Under the bill’s provisions, the core highway program would have received close to a $4 billion boost, from $38.44 billion in 2015 to $42.59 billion in 2020.

There weren’t enough supporters of the bill to ever pass Congress. Some people, like Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, didn’t think the bill was large enough.

“I just spent the better part of a week going to eight states, 12 cities large and small,” Foxx said, referring to his April bus tour. “And I have to tell you that America has been waiting on a bigger solution.”

June 2014

With the current Highway Trust Fund quickly running dry, people started to scramble for a solution. One idea was to repeal the federal gas tax in favor of other funding options like taxing oil barrels and indexing the diesel tax to inflation and fleet fuel economy

Another plan was to cut some services offered by the U.S. Postal Service and use the savings over 10 years to make up for the fuel tax shortfall.

Both proposals were dismissed.

“We’ve got to get past the gimmicks in transportation and really get serious about trying to get a long-term strategy done,” Foxx said.

With hopes of a long-term deal, the Senate decided to delay voting on a proposed $9 billion patch that would have provided funding through December. The month of June saw other proposals as well, most of which caused for a gas tax increase. None of them were seriously considered.

July 2014

July marks the month when Congress finally started to seriously look for a solution. After all, several states were found to be in dire need of highway funding. With no long-term deal in sight, the House and the Senate focused on finding a short-term solution.

In mid-July, the House passed a $10.8 billion plan to pay for the federal government’s share of road and bridge repairs through May. On July 30th the Senate would reject the House’s bill and respond with of its own. The Senate reduced the bill from $10.8 billion to $8.1 billion and sent it back to the House.

With Congress’ summer recess beginning on August 1st it was important for an agreement to be in place as soon as possible.

Just hours after the House turned down the Senate’s $8.1 billion bill, Congress passed the $10.8 billion bill and sent it to be signed by President Barack Obama. The bill should allow continued funding for road, highway and bridge construction through May 2015.

August

On Friday, August 8, President Barack Obama signed the $10.8 billion Highway Trust Fund bill passed by Congress at the end of July. The signing officially resets the timeline and gives Congress a few more months to figure out a long-term solution.